[elcid1970]

It was in 1968 that I learned to hate the MSM, starting with the treasonous Walter Cronkite.

I flew helicopters in Vietnam. If we were taking a rest break near a ville, ten Hueys & crew, and media people showed up & started asking questions, we silently stared at them until they left. Bastards!

It was the 1972 Easter Offensive when North Vietnam dumped all pretense of `people’s war’ and invaded RVN with tanks and APCs. Proud to say I helped carry ARVN rangers, our grunts, & enough M72 LAW rockets to kill the hell out of their damned tanks. Vo Nguyen Giap the NVA `strategic genius’ didn’t know jack about tank tactics and lost hundreds of T-54’s.

But the damn media called it a `successful surprise attack by the NVA; maybe now Nixon will negotiate’. Again, the no good bastards!

[Steely Tom]

I read Robert Mason's Chickenhawk soon after it came out, in 1983. It's the only book about Vietnam I ever finished. He loved the UH-1, and described it's capabilities and characteristics in considerable detail, including (I remember) how the weighted tips of its rotor blades could be used to chop your way out of jungle overgrowth if need be.

I also remember his humorous account of how he accidentally discharged his pistol through his omni indicator after landing.

I know a guy who flew the Huey in Vietnam, he's a retired cop. Very cool guy.

[kearnyirish2]

They exposed the “people’s war” as a hoax when they executed so many civilians during Tet in ‘68 - a real warning to the world as to what the communists intended for the people of South Vietnam.